Martin Scorsese on the U.S. Election: “Democracy Could Continue, or This Experiment Could End”
When rumors circulated that his planned films on Frank Sinatra and Jesus have been postponed, there was speculation that Martin Scorsese might retire. The legendary director has now put those rumors to rest: “I’m not saying goodbye to cinema at all,” he said during a press conference Monday at the Museum of Cinema in Turin, Italy. “I still have more films to make, and I hope God gives me the strength to make them.”
Scorsese is in Turin to receive the Museum of Cinema’s prestigious Stella della Mole award Monday night. Friends like Willem Dafoe, Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore and production designer Dante Ferretti will be on hand to honor him.
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During a freewheeling conversation with journalists in Turin, Scorsese also shared his thoughts on the upcoming U.S. elections.
“When we filmed Gangs of New York at Cinecittà, we depicted a violent, bloody 19th century America, with a brutal character — Bill the Butcher, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. People like him are showing up again. We don’t know what’s going to happen in a few weeks,” he said, referring to the Nov. 5 election. “Democracy could continue, or this experiment could end.”
The director continued, once again comparing the current political climate to his 2002 historical epic, which chronicles the clash between rival Irish gangs in New York in the late 1800s. “I never thought I’d live through a moment like this. It reminds me of Federico Fellini, who, while filming Satyricon, said as he walked through Rome: ‘I feel like I’m back in ancient Roman times.’ Now I feel like we’re back in the world of Gangs of New York, a film about violent clashes between immigrant ethnic groups fighting for control of New York and, metaphorically, America.”
Introduced by the president of Turin’s Cinema Museum, Enzo Ghigo, and outgoing director Domenico De Gaetano, Scorsese also discussed his current film project, which focuses on Italy.
“I’m filming between Ustica and Taormina. It’s a documentary about marine archaeology,” Scorsese revealed. The film is based on the research project Shipwreck of Sicily, led by British underwater archaeologist Lisa Briggs, who uses DNA analysis on items recovered from ancient shipwreck sites to reconstruct the stories of ships, sailors and cargo from ancient times.
The documentary, co-produced by the Sicilian region, will also be filmed at the Selinunte Archaeological Park, Pantelleria, the Museum of the Dancing Satyr in Mazara del Vallo, and the Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo. Scorsese added, “I saw an amphora [an ancient Greek or Roman jar] pulled from the sea, and it moved me deeply.”
He’ll also visit the town of Polizzi Generosa, from where his grandfather Francesco hailed. “Our original name was ‘Scorzese,’ with a ‘z,’ possibly hinting at ancient Scottish roots,” Scorsese reminisced.
Moving from archaeology to the future, Scorsese mused about the future of cinema: “Maybe one day we’ll experience films through a chip implanted in our heads. Imagine Orlando Furioso [the Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto from the 1500s] or Hamlet in virtual reality. You’d see the Prince of Denmark right in front of you, as if he were real. But no matter the technology, one thing will always matter: Can you communicate something? Can you tell a story? Stories help us understand who we are.”
Asked about the violent imagery that recurs in his work, Scorsese pointed to how violence can take many forms: “I think violence is part of who we are. Growing up, I saw it all around me. I’ve seen good people do bad things. Violence is part of how we interact — it’s even present in a production meeting or a bank boardroom, just disguised as something more ‘civilized.’ Even when you avoid looking someone in the eye, that’s a form of violence, too.”
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